The Motus pause is still on. Your biennial update requirement isn't gone.

FMCSA updated its Motus notice on September 10, and the pause is still on. If your biennial update was due on or after June 1, 2026, the agency isn't enforcing it right now, and it isn't inactivating USDOT numbers over it.

That's extra time. It's not a repeal.

What Motus is

Motus is FMCSA's new USDOT registration system. The agency announced it in a notice of policy on April 29 (91 FR 23144) and opened it to the industry on May 19. It's replacing the old Portal and Unified Registration System. If you've tried to claim your USDOT number, get through Login.gov identity checks, or file a biennial update since spring, you know the transition has had problems. FMCSA acknowledged that when it first paused enforcement in June.

What the pause says

According to the September 10 page, registrants whose biennial update was due on or after June 1 get extra time and won't have their USDOT number inactivated for missing it. FMCSA says it'll share more guidance as it keeps fixing Motus. There's no end date posted. Land Line reported the agency plans to give plenty of warning before enforcement comes back.

The requirement still applies

Your USDOT number's last digit sets your month. If it ends in 9, that's September. If it ends in 0, that's October. The next-to-last digit decides whether you file in even or odd years, and 2026 is an even year. The pause covers deadlines from June on, but the rule itself is still on the books in 49 CFR 390.19 and 390.19T (390.19T is the one that's in effect). FMCSA's registration page still says you update every two years even if nothing changed, even if the truck is parked, and even if you've closed the business without notifying FMCSA.

What to do now

Don't put off Motus because of the pause. Claim your number when the system lets you. Finish identity verification. Make sure your legal name, address, and officer information match what your insurance filer and process agent have. Then look yourself up on the public Motus search so you see what brokers and shippers see.

Motus is your federal registration record, and that's all it is. Your medical card, the Clearinghouse, and the ELD registered list all have their own deadlines, and the pause doesn't change them.

Where to get help

Call the Registration Customer Service Center at 1-800-832-5660. They're open 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. Eastern on weekdays, plus Saturdays. You can also open a ticket at ask.fmcsa.dot.gov. Sign up for FMCSA registration alerts so you hear about the next change directly from the agency.

If you run both interstate and intrastate

Land Line reports the agency said Motus doesn't offer a biennial-update path for intrastate carriers anymore. Interstate carriers still have the federal two-year requirement, and some states still want their own updates. If you run both, don't assume one filing covers the other.

What happens when it's lifted

FMCSA's older registration page still lists civil penalties of up to $1,000 a day, capped at $10,000, plus deactivation, for a missed biennial update. Those are the numbers printed on that page and in 49 U.S.C. 521(b)(2)(B). The current inflation-adjusted recordkeeping maximum in 49 CFR part 386 Appendix B is $1,584 a day, capped at $15,846. Right now the pause is what's in force. Once it's lifted, those penalties can apply again. File when you can and keep the confirmation.

Sources

• FMCSA temporary suspension of the biennial update (updated September 10, 2026; still showing that date on October 20, 2026)
• Updating your registration or authority
• Motus notice of policy, 91 FR 23144 (April 29, 2026)
• Move into Motus
• Motus public search
• Land Line coverage, September 10, 2026

Access date for linked pages: September 10, 2026; pause page rechecked October 20, 2026. Not legal advice. Check FMCSA's Motus pages before you act.